Don’t Get Knocked Over by the Wave of Priorities

One of the hardest parts about being a creative entrepreneur is dealing with constant ambiguity. At any moment, the film that's been waiting on standby for two years suddenly gets funding, a faraway project proposal abruptly becomes an urgent deadline, or that secondary income stream you've been diligently building dissolves seemingly overnight.

Like a series of giant waves, our industry can pull us in directions we don't always see coming. Sometimes we think we can brace for it, telling ourselves we've got everything under control, but the tide proves too strong to resist.

So what's the solution to these ever-shifting objectives? To not resist, to accept the undulating waves of priorities that will threaten—and often succeed—to throw us off our game. 

Think of those phone switchboard operators from the 1950s. Or that kid who beat your whole middle school at Dance Dance Revolution. Their job was to constantly stay ahead of the barrage of distractions thrown their way—to accept and flow through the ceaseless waves of priorities that dominated the moment.

OK, fine, so you've never operated a switchboard and you actually suck at Dance Dance Revolution. Does that mean your chances of successfully riding the waves are totally shot? Far from it. It’s true that being a creative entrepreneur can be challenging for people used to a rigid or linear way of working. Unlike, say, accountants or lab technicians, whose jobs are often seasonally predictable and repetitive in process, a creative entrepreneur must constantly shift priorities, approaches, and expectations to stay afloat.

This realization can feel shaky and uncomfortable, perhaps even giving rise to feelings of failure and inadequacy. But once you stop resisting and panicking, and learn to relax amid the riptide current of the waves, you'll find yourself shocked at your ability to adapt and reorganize—not in a state of frenzy or panic, but with calm, focus, and flow. 

  Your ability to stay centered amid a rapidly shifting schedule will take time and practice. In the meantime, here are a couple of pointers to get you started on the journey toward becoming a prioritization pro.

• Focus on longer-term goals. If you’ve built out a plan that only accounts for a few weeks or a month, you are more likely to find yourself falling behind. Why? Because when we inevitably miss those short-term goals, we are reinforcing a message of failure. With longer-term goals, however, you've got more wiggle room for the waves to tug you along where they may. When your momentum ebbs and flows, it's no longer attributable to falling behind. Rather, it's part of the natural rhythms of your work, and you will more easily adopt a mindset of catching up. Your north star is steady and your big career goals are your anchors. A bit of calendar chaos won't throw your ship off track. 

• Adopt a priority framework. It's not all Zen and acceptance and “come what may,” however. Short-term crises inevitably flare up and your ability to prioritize ruthlessly will ensure you emerge from the fracas with only a scratch or two. There are many ways to set priorities. At Artist's Strategy, we use a numerical ranking process as part of our five-year plan template. But you can find other processes, like the Eisenhower Matrix or the RICE model, that may work better for you. For a long time, I would rewrite my daily priority lists on various colored pads—red for urgent, yellow for important, and green for someday—and that proved to be a huge help. What could your system look like?    

No matter what your short-term framework is, embracing the wave of priorities and learning to tussle with the unexpected surprises that come your way will lead to a much happier and more productive working life—both for the day-to-day, and for the long-term resiliency of your creative business. So clear your mind, loosen up, and ride the waves!